Snow Day
by parsda
Summary: A snow day at RangeMan. -I was finally able to incorporate What Matters Most into a story.-
1. Chapter 1

**Snow Day**

Steph sat on the couch and looked out the window, watching the snow fall. She was so engrossed in watching the snow that she didn't hear the apartment door open and close. She didn't hear anything until Ranger sat down next to her and dropped a kiss on her cheek. She looked over at him and said, "Hey, when did you get home?" "Just now Babe. The snow is really coming down and I made sure the guys who are on duty tonight were settled and the guys that left called in to let me know they made it home. Roads are getting closed and we should have over a foot of snow by morning. She laughed and said, "Someone will be happy that school will most likely be closed tomorrow." They both chuckled as they thought of their oldest child, Isabella.

Thinking back almost seven years ago, Isabella came as a surprise to both of them. They hadn't been married very long, just over six months, when Steph started feeling off. She was nauseous most of the time and finally admitted to Ranger that she was over three weeks late. They sat together in the bathroom and watched the lines on the home pregnancy test turn bright pink and then just looked at each other. Steph had tears in her eyes and started to apologize to Ranger, when he grabbed her face with both hands and kissed her. "I'm happy Babe. I know we weren't expecting this, or even thinking about this, but I'm glad it's happened. Sometimes God takes the choice from us when He knows the time is right." And Ranger was right, their time was right. His missions for the government were over and he had delegated a lot of his job responsibilities to some of the members of the core team. Steph had been working fulltime for his company and was good at what she did, and had been going to the gym and gun range. She was even taking some defense lessons from the guys when she could fit it into her schedule. He and Steph had gotten married quietly one weekend at the beach when they both had time off and then threw a big party to let everyone know they had eloped. Both sets of parents were happy for them and the news of a baby would cause them to be overjoyed.

The early part of pregnancy was a hard time for Steph. The morning sickness hit full force and she was in bed most of the first few months. Finally around the fourth month, she felt human again and came back to work. Her gym time was altered to fit her condition and the guys all brushed up on their first aid skills, including emergency childbirth. They planned to deliver at the hospital, but with Steph involved, they never knew what could happen! By the eighth month, Steph was going stir crazy. They didn't go out much anymore and she spent a lot of time rearranging the nursery the guys had helped them put in the apartment. The apartment didn't take up the entire top floor of the building, so there was plenty of room to expand. Ranger had decided to add two bedrooms and an additional bathroom. That way, he still got to keep his office and the baby would have a room, in addition to an extra room for Julie when she visited.

Steph was 38 weeks pregnant when it was time for the anniversary party for Ranger's parents. They were married 40 years and were throwing a big celebration for the entire family. They invited all of RangeMan, as well as Steph's extended family and friends. Ranger and Steph argued most of the week leading up to the party because he didn't want to go too far away so close to her due date. She argued that they were only going to be an hour away from home, and there were two hospitals on the way to and from the party. Finally, he relented and they arrived at the party early and Ranger had hopes of dragging her back home before spending too much time there. They made it through dinner and dessert and then it was time for the gifts. Ranger and his siblings had decided to send their parents on a dream vacation to Europe. They were giving them round trip airfare, a month of hotel vouchers and train passes so they could go anywhere in Europe they desired and spend as much or as little time in a city as they wanted. Ranger and his siblings had gathered around the table where his parents were seated and he started to talk about the love his parents had for each other, when he heard from across the room, "Oh shit!" The room was silent and he looked over to see Steph standing up from the table and looking down at the floor. She looked over at him and said, "Might want to hurry up your speech. Someone's not going to wait." She started walking towards him with a panicked look on her face. His eyes went wide and he just stared. His sister smacked him on the arm and that got his attention. He ended up throwing the envelope at his parents, saying, "Have fun" and then ran over to Steph. They made their way out of the party and got into the car. She looked at him and said, "Don't even say it." He smirked at her but said nothing. They made it back to Trenton in record time and got parked at the hospital just as the contractions started to get closer together.

While Steph was getting settled into a room and changed into a hospital gown, he sent Tank a text and told him to hold off the crowd at the hospital until he sent word. He had no idea how long the delivery would take and he didn't want their friends and family to cause any more stress for Steph then she already was experiencing.

Hours later, she was exhausted. She looked at Ranger with tears in her eyes and said, "I can't do this anymore." Ranger leaned down and kissed her in between contractions. "Babe, I know you are exhausted, but you can do this, I know you can. I wish I could do it for you, but I can't. Babe, please." "Damn you and your please." She took a deep breath and said, "Ok, let's get this out of me." She pushed for about an hour before the doctor motioned for Ranger to take a look. "Babe, I can see the head, it's almost out. Keep pushing." A few more pushes later, Steph let out a big groan and there was a cry in the room. Ranger looked down by the doctor and saw their baby. The doctor put the baby on Steph's chest and said, "Congratulations, it's a girl." Ranger looked at Steph and said, "Proud of you Babe." He reached down and ran a finger down the baby's cheek and she turned her mouth towards his finger. The nurses helped get the baby dressed and back to Steph for her first feeding. After she fell asleep, Steph followed within a few minutes. Ranger sat and watched the baby for a few minutes and then climbed into bed with Steph and closed his eyes.

He woke about an hour later to a quiet whimpering sound and was confused for a minute as to where he was. He was in bed with Steph, arms wrapped around her middle, in a protective nature. He untangled himself from her and slipped out of bed. He walked over to the bassinet and looked down at the baby wrapped in a pink blanket. He stared in awe at the child with a pink knit hat on her head, silky black hair sticking out the sides. There wasn't a whole lot of hair, but what there was had a bit of a curl to it. He hoped it was curly like Steph's, but just more manageable.

He noticed the baby's eyes were open and they were the same sparkling blue color that Steph had, and he hoped that never changes. He reached down and gently picked her up and settled her into the crook of his arm. He walked over to the rocking chair and sat down and started to slowly rock her. He still couldn't believe that she was here. It had been a long and bumpy nine months, but here they were. He gently slid his finger down the baby's cheek and under her chin. He reached down to tuck her hand back into the blanket but she grabbed onto his finger. They sat staring at each other for a few minutes before he heard Steph start to wake up.

He glanced her way and smiled at her. "She woke up but doesn't seem to need anything right now Babe. You can go back to sleep if you want." Steph shook her head and pulled herself out of bed. She gingerly walked over to them and picked up the baby from Ranger. She then sat both of them on Ranger's lap and he wrapped his arms around both of them. He looked at Steph and she had tears falling down her cheeks. "Babe what's the matter?" "I'm just so happy she's finally here." He wiped her tears away and continued to rock all of them.

They were still all sitting in the rocking chair when a nurse came to check on them. Ranger quietly asked her to take a picture of them and she was happy to do so. They made a striking looking family. The baby was the perfect combination of her parents. "I just wanted to see if you needed anything", she said, "but it looks like you have everything you need. Just hit the call button if you need me." She quietly left the room, closing the door behind her.

"Carlos, we should probably call our families now and let them know she's here. Our exit from your parent's anniversary party didn't go unnoticed. I'm surprised there isn't a gang outside our room, trying to break in here." "Don't worry Babe. Tank was in charge of crowd control. Let's get this little one back in her bed and get you showered and dressed. Then, I'll let Tank know who to let in."

Once Steph was cleaned up and back in bed, Ranger brought the baby to her. She finished feeding her and then handed her back to Ranger for a new diaper. He had just given her back to Steph when there was knock on the door. Ranger went over and opened it. He let everyone in and it seemed to Steph that everyone they knew was there. They all made their way over to her and the baby. Ranger came over and sat on the bed beside her, wrapping an arm around her waist. "Everyone, we're delighted to introduce you all to our daughter, Isabella Gracelyn Manoso. I think that she is the perfect combination of both of us."

Isabella opened her eyes at that moment and everyone gasped. "Steph, she has your eyes" said her mom. "Yep, everything else seems to be from Carlos, except for the hair. It already has a kink to it so it will probably end up curly like mine. I just we can keep it under control better."

"Babe, it doesn't matter what her hair ends up like. We'll love her even if she was bald forever."

"I know."

"Babe, she's here and healthy and has a very large, extended family that loves her and that's what matters most."

~Present Day~

Steph let out a sigh and looked at Ranger. He pulled her into his lap and reached a hand out to rub her ever growing baby bump. Baby number two came as just a surprise as Isabella had been and was due in about three months. This pregnancy seemed to be agreeing more with Steph and he hoped that meant it would be a boy, at least that what's his mother and Steph's mother kept saying. They sat in the quiet for a few minutes before there were footsteps coming into the room. Ranger looked up and saw Isabella standing in front of them with her hands on her hips. "Yes Bella?"

"Papa, it's snowing outside. Does that mean it's time for Santa to come?"

Steph chuckled and said, "Bella, you still have a few weeks before Santa comes, but there should be enough snow by morning that school will be closed so you can stay home with us all day." Isabella started jumping up and down. "Yeah, no school, no school." Ranger looked at her and sighed. "Bella, why don't you like school? You like to color and read books and you get to see your friends." "Papa, when I go to school I don't get to see you, mama or the uncles. I like to do that more than go to school. I already know lots so I don't need to go. And, what I don't know I can learn from the uncles." Ranger rolled his eyes and sighed. Steph looked at them and said, "Well, since it's going to snow most of the night and probably tomorrow, why don't we decorate the apartment for Santa? Daddy can get the uncles to bring up the decoration boxes from the basement and we can put up the decorations. Maybe even tomorrow, Nana Ella will help us make cookies and we can share with the uncles." Bella started cheering and jumping up and down. "Yeah, we can put the ormanents on the tree. Mama, can you tell the stories again about the ormanents?" Ranger laughed and said, "Ornaments Bella." Ranger pulled out his phone and sent off a text and within fifteen minutes, there was a knock at the door and Bella ran to open it.

"Hi Uncle Lester and Uncle BobBob. Are you going to help us get the ormanents on the tree?" Lester leaned down and gave Isabella a kiss on the cheek. "You betcha Smelly Belly. Let's go find those boxes." He grabbed her hand and pulled her out and into the elevator. She looked back at Bobby and Ranger and said, "Well, aren't you two coming with us? We can't carry all the ormanets by ourselves." Bobby and Ranger headed out of the apartment and got into the elevator with the other two.

Within a half hour, the apartment was full of boxes that were marked with what decorations were inside. Bobby and Lester were helping Ranger set up the tree and get the lights working while Steph was helping Bella decide how to hang the stockings on the fireplace. Each year she decided the order of the stockings, based on who she thought was the best behaved in the apartment. This year, they were going to add a stocking for the baby, but not put a name on it. Bella thought that Santa would bring the baby some presents even though it wasn't born yet. Steph had to remember to get a couple things wrapped for the baby. Once Bella had the stockings in her order, which was Bella, Mama, Baby and Papa, then Steph attached them to the hooks. "Ok, kiddo, let's go get dinner out so we can eat and then do a little more before bed. We can spend all day tomorrow finishing up the decorations and all of the ornaments, with their stories." Steph pulled out what Ella had left for dinner and they all ate before getting back to work.

The guys had finally gotten all of the lights working on the tree and by the time they were done, Bella was falling asleep. Bobby picked her up and carried her to her room for Steph. Steph got her into the bathroom and changed into her pajamas before everyone came in for a good night kiss. Once she was in bed, they headed out into the living room and Steph flopped down on the couch and started rubbing her bump. Bobby came over and checked her out, but she pushed him away. "I'm fine, just tired. The baby is fine, just moving around a lot right now. Ranger, can you put things away for me? I'm going to take a bath and head to bed." She stood up and kissed the guys on the cheek and then headed into their bedroom. Bobby looked at Ranger and asked if Steph was okay. Ranger replied, "Yeah, I think she's just getting to the tired stage and Bella keeps her on the move. Tomorrow will be a snow day and that means non-stop Bella. I'll make sure she gets a good night's rest and then doesn't do too much tomorrow. Bella wants her to tell the stories for the ornaments so that way she can sit and I can help Bella put the decorations on the tree."

Lester looked at him and said, "Stories for the ornaments? What's that all about?"

Ranger sighed and said, "The kid has a huge memory and doesn't forget anything. About two years ago when she started helping decorate the tree, Steph would explain about some of the ornaments while they put them on the tree. Some are from Steph's childhood, a few are from my childhood that my mom gave us and some are ones that Steph has collected over the years. I've added a few to the collection and some have a special meaning, but some are just for fun. Those are the ones that Bella wants to know the most about, so last year Steph made up a couple stories. I hope she remembers for this year, because I know Bella won't forget."

The guys headed out and Ranger locked up after them and headed to the bedroom. He looked in and saw Steph half sitting, half laying in the bed. She had gotten partly changed into her pajamas before she conked out. He walked over and helped her finish changing and then laid her completely down in bed. He took a quick shower and then climbed into bed with her. Before he could even get situated, she had drifted over to his side of the bed and had attached herself to him. He dropped a kiss on her lips, even though she was sleeping, and then rubbed his hand over the baby bump. "Good night my loves."


	2. Chapter 2

Morning came too early for Steph's liking. Ranger had already gotten up, spent time in the gym and helped the guys with clearing the snow off of the sidewalks around the building. They were lucky that the garage was underground and they didn't have to clean off the cars and trucks. It was still snowing and indeed schools and a lot of businesses were closed for the day. Even the courthouse had shut down. Steph walked out into the kitchen to find Ranger finishing up breakfast and he handed her a cup of coffee. She was allowed one cup of real coffee each day by her doctor and she preferred to have it as soon as she woke up. Ranger was just handing her a plate of food when Isabella came into the kitchen.

"Good morning Bella. Daddy has breakfast ready for us so let's go sit down at the table." Steph helped Bella get situated at the table just in time for Ranger to bring out two plates full of food. He had made chocolate chip pancakes and bacon, but Steph wasn't fooled. The pancakes were made with healthy mix and not the good stuff and the bacon wasn't real, most likely some sort of non-meat product. She sighed and started eating. Ranger had cut up Bella's pancakes so she was set to start eating without any other help. Ranger joined them a minute later and Steph looked at him and his little smirk that he was wearing. "Babe, you know I wouldn't make unhealthy food, don't you?"

After they ate, Bella helped to carry the dishes back to the kitchen and helped Steph put them in the dishwasher. Steph took her into her room and they picked out what she was going to wear and then helped her get dressed. Bella almost could get dressed alone, she just had problems with zippers. Steph left her and headed into her closet to find something to wear. The baby bump was growing and she was running out of pants that fit. She'd have to talk to Ella and make a date for shopping.

She headed into the living room and found Bella telling Ranger which ornaments to set out on the table so they could go on the tree. Ranger saw her come in and looked relieved. He could never say "no" to Bella because he didn't like to see her cry. Even as a baby, he was always quick to jump up and hold her if she made any kind of whimpering sound. Steph walked over and sat down on the couch. The first group of ornaments were on the coffee table and Bella stood in front of her, waiting. "Mama? Is it time for the stories?" "Sure baby, you pick out the ornament and I'll tell the story while Daddy hangs it on the tree. Sound good?" Bella looked over at Ranger with a look that said, 'do you understand your job?' He nodded and gestured to Steph to start the process. Before they could start, there was a knock at the door. Bella ran to the door and pulled it open. "Yay, the uncles are here. Are you going to help with the ormanets?" Bobby, Lester and Tank came in and sat down in the living room. Steph looked at them quizzically and raised an eyebrow at them. Lester said, "We didn't want to miss the stories about the ormanets!"

Bella picked out the first one and it was an angel that had pink wings. She held it up and Steph smiled. "This is the first ornament that I had as a little girl. Grandma Mazur gave it to me when I was a baby and it's always been on the tree each year. It used to have my name and birth information on the backside, but it's lost the printing over the years." Bella handed it to Ranger and then stood staring at the tree. Finally she pointed to a spot towards the top and Ranger attached it to the tree. She nodded at him and then went back to pick out the next one.

The next one was a bottle of champagne. One the bottom, Steph had written a date on it with a little heart drawn. Bella held it up and looked at Stephanie. "This one is from when Daddy asked me to marry him. The date on the bottom is the day that he asked and I said yes. It was around Christmas time so I bought the ornament to help us remember." Bell nodded her acceptance of the story and pointed out a spot to Ranger. Lester looked at Steph and said, "Are all of the stories going to be this boring?" Steph smacked him upside the head and said, "We have to keep them at a G rating and not triple X that you would like to hear."

Following came the wedding cake shaped ornament. "This one is from when Daddy and I got married. We had a very big cake with lots of frosting flowers." Bella laughed and said, "Mommy, did you eat all of the flowers? You always eat the flowers off of my cakes." All of the uncles laughed and Ranger stood with a smirk on his face. "Babe, you know you do." Steph stuck her tongue out all of them and sat with her hands folded across her chest. Bella pointed out the spot and Ranger hung the wedding cake up on the tree.

The next hour was spent with short stories about the ornaments that Bella picked out. So far, they had Steph and Ranger's baby ornaments, their engagement and wedding ornaments, Bella's baby ornament, a few that were shaped like pizza, donuts and coffee cups. There were a few that Bella had painted in the past few years, adding glitter or feathers to the outside. One was a snowman that represented Bella's first snowman she helped Ranger make when she was 3 years old.

Ranger stepped out for a minute and came back with a small box. He handed it to Steph who looked at him quizzically "Open it Babe. It won't bite." Steph lifted the lid and inside was a small log cabin. Steph looked up at him and he smiled. "I decided to go head and buy the cabin we stayed at our first married vacation. We can go anytime you want, but you'll probably want to wait until after the baby is born." Steph motioned for him to bend down and she kissed him. "Mommy, that's yucky. Don't kiss my daddy like that, gross. Do you see that uncles? Isn't that gross?" They all laughed and Steph launched into the story about the cabin. "The first year we were married, before we knew Bella was coming, Ranger and I decided to get away for a week in the woods. Now, he's told me all about some of your guy weekends in the woods, but that wasn't what I wanted." Lester piped in and said, "What? You didn't want to sleep on the ground, drink beer and discus man things?"

Before Steph could answer, Bella said, "Uncle Lester, that sounds like a yucky thing to do." Lester grabbed her and pulled her onto his lap and started to tickle her. "You don't like man things Smelly Belly? Say Uncle and I'll stop tickling." Bella hung in for about a minute and then, gasping for air between giggles, Bella finally said, "Uncle Uncle." He dropped her onto the floor and then Steph declared it was time for snack. Ranger looked her and shook his head. "What? I'm growing your child, again, and we need a snack." He pulled her off the couch and hand in hand, they walked into the kitchen, with the rest of the uncles following behind.


	3. Chapter 3

After the snacks, they headed back into the living room and more ornaments. Bella pulled out one that was a pair of Santa pants with a red hat hanging off of the top. She looked at Steph, who was smiling. Ranger saw it and chuckled. Lester looked at them and raised one eyebrow and said, "What's this one Bella?" "Uncle Lester, don't you know its Santa's pants?" "Won't he be cold if he doesn't have his pants?" She walked over and with her small hand smacked Lester on the back of the head and then looked at Ranger. He had a huge smile on his face and nodded at her. Steph looked at them and just rolled her eyes. "Bella, please don't hit your uncles. Haven't we discussed this before?" "But papa told me that anytime Uncle Lester says something that is wrong, I can hit him in the head, just like papa does." They all laughed and then Bobby said, "So, what's the story with Santa's pants?"

Before Steph could start talking, Bella jumped in front of Bobby and said, "Uncle BobBob, this one is from when I was just a little girl. Mommy and daddy made me go to bed but I didn't want to because I wanted to wait up to see Santa bring my presents. So once they left my room, I sneaked out and peeked around the corner and that's when I saw it," she said with a dramatic flair and hand gestures. Bobby looked at her and said, "What did you see Bella?" "I saw mommy kissing Santa!" Bobby looked over at Steph and Ranger and they were both smiling, trying not to laugh.

They had such a hard time getting Bella to stay in bed once they put her down for the night that Steph knew that Christmas Eve would be the worst night of all. She had convinced Ranger to wear a Santa costume that Ella had found and they wanted Bella to see "Santa" that night and she just happened to walk out when Steph head leaned over and gave Ranger a kiss. They heard a small gasp and then the sound of feet running down the hall and then a bedroom door shut. They had both laughed at the time and never mentioned it to Bella. They wanted her to bring it up to them. She didn't mention it until later the next day when they got back from dinner at the grandparents' house.

Bobby looked at Bella and nodded. "I saw my mommy kiss Santa one year when I was a little boy. I think Santa kisses all of the mommies if he finds them waiting for him. You know he only brings the children toys, but the mommies make the cookies they leave for him and he kisses them as a thank you for the cookies." Bella looked over at Steph and said, "You can't bake cookies." They all laughed, but Steph glared at them. "Bella, Nana Ella helps me make the cookies. We're probably going to start making cookies later today or tomorrow if there still a lot of snow and school gets cancelled again."

They added the rest of the ornaments until lunch and then Bella fell asleep so Ranger put her in her bed for a nap. She didn't always nap in the afternoon, but she had had a busy morning. Steph was dozing on the couch so Ranger headed into his office. He managed to get an hour of work done before he decided to check on the control room. He'd received no calls, but thought he should check in anyway. Nothing major had happened and it looked like the snow was still coming down. He took a turn with the shovel clearing off the sidewalks around the building and made sure that the guys who were staying in the building had what they needed. The guys that stayed from the previous night were sent to an empty apartment that Ella had set up as an emergency housing, with multiple sets of bunk beds and pull out couches, just for situations like this one. Ranger worked out a schedule with the guys left in the building and put himself and Steph down for monitor duties at opposite times so someone would be with Bella.

He headed back upstairs and found both of his girls in the kitchen getting a snack. He shook his head at them. Steph could eat non-stop with this pregnancy if he let her. At least this time, they were eating bowls of fruit. He walked over and gave Steph a kiss on the lips, Bella a kiss on her forehead and the baby bump got its own kiss and gentle rub. As he rubbed, the baby gave a kick and once Bella saw the movement, she was over to hold on to the bump. She could sit for an hour and just fell the baby move around. She was very fascinated with the baby and they hoped she kept the excitement up once the baby actually arrived. "Babe, I put us on the schedule for the monitors tonight at opposite times so someone can watch Bella. Your shift starts in about an hour if you want to go relax until it's time." She got up and put her bowl in the sink and then headed into the bedroom. He heard the bathroom door shut and then the bath water start. He helped Bella with her empty bowl and then he grabbed her hand and together they headed into his office and closed the door.

"Ok, now that mommy will be out of the way for a bit, we can get her presents wrapped. Sound okay?" Bella nodded and then ran to the closet in the office. Ranger pulled his keys out and unlocked the door and then together they carried the presents they got for Steph to his desk. Bella ran back to the closet and pulled out the wrapping paper and bag of bows. Ranger pulled out the scissors and tape from his desk drawers and they got down to work. Together they worked to wrap the presents and get them under the tree before Steph got out of the bath. Ranger cut the paper and folded it, while Bella put the tape on to hold it closed and then put the bows on top. Ranger helped her write her name on the gift tags and then they snuck out to the tree. They were just putting the last present under the tree when Steph walked into the living room. She looked at them and shook her head. "I don't even want to know what you were doing." She walked over and kissed both of them before heading downstairs for a shift at the monitors.


End file.
